From UCHC-AAUP: UCHC FACULTY SALARIES

Dear Doctor William A Mohler,

FACULTY SALARIES

In considering how to vote in the upcoming election a reasonable question to ask is "Have the Storrs faculty benefited more from a financial perspective with AAUP representation than faculty at UCHC without collective representation?" 

The collective bargaining agreement as negotiated by the UConn Storrs AAUP Faculty Association for the period of 2002-2011 provides for all Storrs faculty (except a very small number that receive unsatisfactory performance) to receive an annual cost-of-living raise that averages about 2.77% with an additional amount of approximately 2.22% in annual merit increases. Across the board, the average annual salary increase for the period of 2004-2008 is about 5% per annum including both cost-of-living plus merit increases.

As a result of these consistent increases, faculty at UConn, Storrs match up very favorably with annual surveys of faculty salaries nationally, particularly for a public university (see the March/April, 2009 issue of Academe, www.aaup.org/pubres/academe/2009/may/sal/sal.htm). Professors and instructors at UConn, Storrs are in the 80-94.9 percentile and assistant and associate professors are in the 60-79.9 percentile.

The picture is vastly different at UCHC. From 2004 to 2008 within the merit system, the average annual increase for faculty with "acceptable performance" is 1.71% (with no increase in 2008) and with "superior performance," 3.43% (with no increase in 2008). Since approximately 70% of faculty receive "acceptable" and 30% receive "superior" ratings, a weighted average across all faculty (minus those with less than acceptable ratings) from 2004 to 2008 is 2.23%. This percentage increase is less than half of the amount received by the UConn, Storrs faculty for the same period.

Please go to the UCHC AAUP Faculty Association website ( Click Here) to see how your individual salary matches up with the percentiles that have been established by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).

With no collective bargaining capacity, UCHC administration has frequently chosen over the last decade to provide no raises in an effort to reduce expenses on the backs of the faculty. For the last two fiscal years (2008 and 2009) the administration has chosen to provide no faculty raises. In the future, if administration is simply allowed to make unilateral decisions concerning compensation then we can expect more years in which our salaries remain static, threatening the quality of life for ourselves and our families. We urge you to not let another year go by without representation of faculty to establish a collective bargaining agreement that can negotiate minimum salary increases.

Visit www.uchcaaup.org FAQ to read AAUP is a No Strike Union